


Raider Time

by NukaCoola



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Smut, F/M, Graphic Description, I still have no idea how to tag fics, Or how to title them, Rescue, Rescue Missions, Sexual Tension, Smut, Unresolved Romantic Tension, obviously, of violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-23 07:14:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30051834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NukaCoola/pseuds/NukaCoola
Summary: Deacon and Charmer go on a rescue mission to retrieve a synth who had been kidnapped by raiders.
Relationships: Deacon & Female Sole Survivor, Deacon & Sole Survivor (Fallout), Deacon/Female Sole Survivor, Deacon/Sole Survivor (Fallout)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	1. Undercover

The air smelled like blood, Jet, and smoke. At least that’s what Deacon tried to focus on. The spy never thought he would enjoy the acrid smell of jet fumes in any context but it was much preferable to get a whiff of that rather than the decomposing corpse smell that permeated most of the place. Impaled on long, sharp scraps of metal were various body parts of unlucky settlers. Rotting guts and old blood-stained bones lay in piles beneath the spikes. Evidence of other poor souls who had shared the same fate. Deacon had always had an unfortunately weak stomach, so he elected to avoid looking at the gorey effigies as much as possible. He hoped they had gone quickly but knowing these pieces of shit, it was unlikely. The ground around the campfire, in front of which Deacon, Charmer, and six cutthroat raiders sat in front of, was littered with empty bottles and empty inhalers which used to contain jet. One of the raiders sitting with them had kept handing Deacon, or rather Hanson, hits of the drug. He insisted that “there’s nothing like that high” but Deacon thought he would just take the guy’s word for it. There’s nothing he hated more than being out of control. Getting high was one of the easiest ways to lose awareness of your surroundings. Losing awareness of your surroundings was one of the easiest ways to get yourself and others killed. 

Deacon had been trying to tune out the gore-filled stories filled with anecdotes about and tips on torturing innocents. It made his blood boil, how casually the sickos talked about and displayed the results of torturing people. Not that he was one to talk… He wanted to leave and get back to what the two were really there for but it would seem weird if the two new guys left story time without a good reason. He was currently trying to think up one.

In reality, Deacon just wanted to leave outright, maybe take out a few assholes along the way. But Charmer and himself were tasked with this unfortunate rescue mission and there was no way in hell he was gonna leave the synth the raiders had captured here. It was frustrating that they had to pretend to be like these guys rather than just a quick sneaky in and out. It was just a role and as always, Deacon played it well. But as mentioned previously, really didn’t like blood and in this camp, he was surrounded by it. The gang they had infiltrated had kidnapped a synth who was in the process of being moved to the Memory Den. The kidnappers had fought and then knocked out the synth’s heavy before taking the terrified girl to their camp. When the heavy, Singe, woke up, she was greeted by a missing synth and a ransom note giving her three weeks to come up with 3000 caps or, as they put it, “your stupid whore friend is gonna be on a spike”. The report was sent to HQ where Dez gave Charmer and him the job. These raiders were pretty well known for being ruthless kidnappers who weren’t too patient when it came to the deadline given to their victims, so they had to be quick and smart. After discussing different strategies and, begrudgingly on Deacon’s part, consulting Pam, the pair had decided on posing as new recruits in order to enter the camp with ease. If the girl was badly injured which was quite likely it would be practically impossible to escape the camp in an inconspicuous manner.

That’s why Deacon currently had ash smeared across his face which seemed to make its way up his nose every 30 seconds. He would have to say that this disguise was one of his least favorites. Besides the makeshift face paint, he was wearing blood stained, dirty, ripped cargo pants with dirt smeared all over his bare chest and back to match. The clunky scrap metal raider armor he had on made his movements much louder than he cared for. The cherry on top however was that, after much debate with Charmer, he had to trade out his signature sunglasses for a pair of beat up wrap around goggles. She claimed that she’d never seen a raider with sunglasses so it would make him stand out. He, of course, disagreed but in the end she won the argument. 

He couldn’t complain though. Out of the two of them Charmer got the raw deal. The raider girls had clothes that Deacon didn’t think could possibly be protective enough for their lifestyle. Charmer wore a spiked bustier with tight, low cut leather pants that had tears all throughout them. Her hair was pulled up into a tight ponytail which stopped her from being able to hide her chest and bare shoulders. What armor she had before was not so subtly demanded off by a few of the other raiders who claimed she didn’t need it. Deacon was going to protest but his partner didn’t want to stand out and argue so she quickly complied before he got the chance. He could tell she was uncomfortable. She wasn’t awarded the same respect some of the raider vets were in the way of not getting harassed. Far too many times since they'd gotten there Deacon had overheard other raiders making, to put it lightly, crude comments about her appearance. He hated it of course and tried to keep her from hearing them but even he had to admit, she did look good. Like, really good.

Out of all of the unpleasantness this camp hand caused them thus far, Deacon was more worried about the sleazy guy sitting next to Charmer on the opposite side from him. The dirt caked asshole was well into his fourth beer of the night and was starting to get pretty touchy. She kept casually brushing off his hands and she tried to subtly lean away when he got too close but he wasn’t giving up. He’d even gone through the trouble of moving his chair closer to hers. Deacon kept looking to Charmer for any sign that she wanted help but it was apparent she was just trying to ignore him and act natural. It was when the prick grabbed her thigh and began moving his hand up it he decided he needed to step in. He had been watching them from the corner of his eye for a while. Pretending to listen to a lady (he’d thought he remembered her name being Killover) talk about how good at skinning people she was, but now he moved his head towards them, pretending to notice for the first time. 

“Hey!” Deacon barked at the guy as he stood, grabbing his partner’s arm and pulling her closer to him. He was a bit rougher than he would’ve under different circumstances, “hands off my girl, asshole.” Charmer looked almost as surprised as the raider did at the outburst. His surprise quickly turned to anger as he stood too.

“The hell she’s ‘your girl’ dickhead. We were having a moment weren’t we, sweetie?” he smiled sickly at Charmer. Deacon moved her behind him to keep her from having to answer. 

“The only moment I saw was the one where I realized I’m gonna crack your thick skull open.” He snapped back. He really hoped his words would fit with the mood rather than start a bigger altercation but he was pretty much ready to knock this guy flat if he needed to. Deacon needed to keep her safe for the job of course. All this was for the job.

“Why you-” The guy wobbly began to move towards him.

“NARK!” Another raider yelled. This stopped the approaching one and made him turn his attention away from Deacon.

“The fuck do you want? You see what he said to me?” Nark spat. “I was just trying to give that bitch a g-”

“Sit down and shut up, asshole. He said Kira’s his girl so back the fuck off.” The older raider seemed to be a superior of some sort to Nark because he scowled looking back and forth at the other raider and Deacon. Eventually he must’ve decided to follow the command because he cursed and sat where Charmer had been sitting before. Nark smirked and looked up at the faux raider. He was obviously trying to separate the two and annoy Deacon. Deacon was most definitely annoyed but he wasn’t going to let this creepy dick between Charmer and himself. He sat back down in his chair and pulled his partner into his lap. Nark, looked mildly shocked, not having foreseen this obvious foil to his plan. He grumbled and looked away as the older raider gestured to the skin lady to continue with her story.

“Sorry,” Deacon murmured, referring to the forced closeness. Charmer looked up and grinned.

“For what, babe?” Deacon forced a soft chuckle and pretended her calling him that didn’t make his heart skip a beat. She turned around so that she was straddling him, making him tense up for a moment. He hoped she didn’t notice. For the first time in the night he found himself wanting to focus on literally anything else in the filthy camp. 

“As much as I’m loving this family bonding I think we should save story time for another day, any ideas?” she leaned to his ear to whisper this, causing goosebumps to pop up on his forearms. A lot of ideas were running through Deacon’s head right now but for some reason none of them had much to do with the mission. 

“Been trying to think of something for a while. No dice, what about you?” He whispered back, smirking and resting his hands above her hips so as to look like they were doing couple stuff. She smiled and shifted her position a bit at his touch, once again making far to many irrelevant ideas pop into his head.

“Yeah it’s hard to tear my attention away from the riveting tale of Killover’s escapades.” she looked to the side for a moment, thinking. She always worried her bottom lip with her teeth when she was thinking. It’s something Deacon always found cute and something he currently found quite distracting. Anything else Deacon, think of literally anything else. Her lip biting turned to a smile as she presumably thought of a solution. He looked back to her eyes, awaiting an explanation. “Well we’re a couple right?” She grinned.

“Unless you know something I don’t, doll.” Deacon returned her smile. The pet name was only used because one night, when she was drunk, she mentioned really liking it. The bashful and partially embarrassed look that flashed on Charmer’s face when he called her this told him she wasn’t lying about it. She quickly composed herself and continued speaking.

“Well sometimes couples have to sneak out to do stuff right?” The small flush originally painting her face grew. Oh… before he was able to fully process what she was proposing, her lips were on his. 

He froze at first but quickly caught on and kissed her back. Her nails dug into the exposed skin of his shoulders as his hands instinctively squeezed her hips. She made a little noise at this. A noise that Deacon very much wanted to hear again. The kiss was rather deep for the acting performance they needed. When Deacon pulled away slightly to take a breath, his partner darted out her tongue to lick his lips before she was on him again. His head was spinning and his pants growing tighter as she ground into him. Something else, think of something else. The whole affair was over in about 10 seconds but he was weirdly out of breath despite this. The obvious display of affection drew the attention of a few of the raiders. She pulled away and giggled at a louder volume than she was speaking in before to really bring it home. Her hands left their previous place on his shoulders as she dragged her nails down the sides of his arms. He fought the urge to shiver. If he didn’t know any better he would think she was trying to rile him up. One of her hands grabbed his and she smoothly slid off of his lap in order to begin pulling him away from the group. Deacon shook off the shock as he chuckled darkly, saluting his ‘fellow’ raiders. 

“Duty calls boys.” He bragged with a grin. A couple of wolf whistles rang out as Charmer dragged him further into the raider camp. When they were hidden behind one of the many tent’s she let go of his hand. He felt a pinch of disappointment at the discontinued contact but made no show of it. It was just for the job right? So of course it didn’t mean anything. He’d done this a thousand times when playing a character so why was his heart racing now?

“You saw where they’re holding her earlier right?” Charmer asked. She was acting as if nothing happened but he noticed her cheeks were still flushed and her voice was ever so slightly breathy. As for her question, he had. They had split up at the beginning of their ‘raider orientation’ which, while nerve wracking, proved a good opportunity to look for the synth and scout out what they’re up against. Deacon had been told off hand that a specific building towards the back of the camp was where they kept the “cap cows”. He had assumed that meant hostages.

“Yeah, we can probably get over there without being noticed but it’s gonna be a lot harder to get out with her in tow. The building’s pretty far from the exit.” Charmer bit her lip, once again drawing Deacon’s attention away from the matter at hand. He wasn’t usually this distracted. He didn’t know if it was the outfit or the kiss or the second hand jet fumes but he couldn’t help but feel like a stupid, horny teenager. A stupid, horny teenager who also felt very guilty about what he was thinking about his friend.

“Well we definitely can’t bring her through the front.” She looked around “The walls of this place don’t really give off Fort Knox vibes. You think we could make a back door?” Deacon looked to what he could see of the shoddy fortifications through various tents and buildings. She was right, the walls were mostly cobbled together from rotting wood and rusted scrap metal. Their best bet would probably be to try to get out through ripping bits off and squeezing through a makeshift ‘exit’. 

“Yeah that sounds good. Let’s-” Deacon was interrupted by the sound of gunshots coming from the front of the camp. Perfect, a distraction. Various raiders began to emerge from tents and shacks, yelling and running towards the source of the commotion. Deacon began to run towards the building he’d seen before, Charmer following close behind. They weaved through the camp avoiding raiders as they heard them coming. The gunfight seemed to be escalating by the sound of the shots ringing out. The two ducked into a faux alleyway to avoid one of the many heroes rushing to defend their camp. After the raider woman passed them, Charmer began to walk out again. Deacon grabbed her arm and pulled her back into the shadows just as another small group rushed by. He placed a hand on her shoulder, telling her to wait. He could feel her heart racing from where his fingers rested on the base of her throat. She’d probably be dead 20 times over if it wasn’t for him, not that the raiders would’ve done much more than question her running away from the threat. When Deacon determined it was safe he removed his hand and began to lead her towards their destination again. 

They arrived at the holding cell which surprisingly wasn’t being guarded on the outside. Raiders were never that smart Deacon supposed. They opened the unlocked door however and were greeted with two antsy looking raiders standing in front of a sizable cage. Neither of them could’ve been older than 17. This realization made Deacon feel rather sick, so he could only imagine what pre-war, recent mother Charmer felt. 

He was a bit relieved to see the girl was the only one being held right now. It would be much more difficult to get a synth and a random wastelander to safety but he knew there was no way his Charmer would leave anyone prisoner here. His Charmer. God dammit. He’d been slipping up like that a lot lately. Getting too close, too possessive. She wasn’t his and she never would be. He had to keep reminding himself of that. 

The young raiders originally seemed frustrated at being given guard duty during a time of crisis but quickly lifted their weapons when the two entered. Deacon held up his hands in an unthreatening manner and walked slowly towards the closer raider as he spoke.

“Cool it, we were told to-” as soon as he got close enough he grabbed one of the boys and disarmed him, pulling him around to his chest to act as a shield from the other. The second boy began to aim at Deacon but he was shot before he could even remove his safety. Charmer held the now smoking deliverer, a terribly pained expression taking over her features. It distracted Deacon just long enough to allow the boy he held to elbow him in the face. He stumbled back which allowed the raider to free himself from Deacon’s grip. He tried to run for the door but Charmer shot him as well. She had pressed her mouth into a thin line to effectively hide her emotions. It would’ve worked for most, but Deacon knew her too well. The corner of her mouth quivered while her slightly moistened eyes gave way to her grief. He should’ve been the one to do that. Not her.

Charmer turned away from the kid’s body to face the terrified looking synth huddling in the corner of her cell. Deacon was right about her being injured. She was badly bruised and she sported several lacerations which the dress-like rags she was wearing did little to hide. Her hands were tied tightly with rope that had chafed her wrists to bleeding and judging by the intense swelling and bruising on her misshapen shin, it was safe to assume her left leg was broken. These bastards deserve to be wiped out by whatever was currently attacking them. Deacon just hoped they would get out before that happened. Charmer’s face softened into one of compassion and understanding. She walked a bit closer to the girl’s cage, speaking to her in a soft, reassuring tone. Deacon, in the meanwhile, striped off the clunky, noisy raider armor. It would be best to be as covert as possible in their escape.

“Hey, it’s ok, don’t worry. We’re with the Railroad. We’re here to get you out of this place.” She scanned the synth’s broken body, her eyes betraying more heartache, “I’m- We are so, so sorry.” The girl looked shocked and relieved at the possibility of escape. She smiled tentatively as she struggled to stand. “No no, don’t get up. I don’t want you to hurt yourself any further.” Charmer turned to the lock on the cage, pulling a bobby pin seemingly out of nowhere, she made quick work of it. Out of her many skills, this was one of Deacon’s favorites. She pulled the heavy metal door open while Deacon stepped forward to remove the girl’s bindings. She looked apprehensive at Deacon’s approach but he gave her a kind smile to attempt to quell some of her worries.

“Hi there, I’m Deacon what’s your name?” Charmer moved towards one of the clouded windows on the back wall of the building, seeing if she could get it open.

“M-my designation is K1-32 but I like Sarah.” She said the last part of her sentence so quietly it was hard to discern. Deacon saw this often with synths fresh out of the Institute. They desperately want to be free and be their own person but they feel scared and embarrassed to admit anything of the sort.

“It’s nice to meet you, Sarah.” He doesn’t think he’ll ever get tired of the soft, genuine smile the synths take on when their identity is validated by someone else. That joy is what he lives for. It’s what they all live for. “Can I cut these ropes off your hands?” He slowly pulled out a knife he’d had tucked in his belt. She acknowledged the weapon warily, god knows she’s seen too many knives these past few days, but she closed her eyes and nodded. Deacon gently took her hands and cut away the offending object without so much as touching the metal to her already marred skin. She let out a breath she was holding as the bindings fell from her wrists. Her smile was full of hope and gratitude when she looked back to Deacon. 

Charmer had been able to get the rear window open while Deacon was freeing Sarah. It was a bit of a task as the warped wood stuck to the frame but his partner definitely wasn’t weak. Outside the gun fire had ceased which made Deacon worried despite his calm demeanor. It would be a lot easier to sneak out the window and run to the wall rather than risk going out the front where guards would likely be returning shortly to check on their prisoner. But Sarah’s injuries would make it impossible for her to climb through herself. It would also be difficult to pass her through with one of the agents on either side of the wall especially without hurting her. Considering their sped up time frame, Deacon decided it would have to happen. Charmer had seemed to come to the same conclusion. She leaned slightly out of the window, scouting the area, before she climbed through herself.

“Looks like your leg’s in bad shape, is it ok if I pick you up and carry you, Sarah?” Deacon asked her gently. She looked worried but nodded anyways, readjusting her sitting position to make it easier for him to lift her. Deacon looped one of his arms under hers and around her back while his other went under her thighs, trying not to touch her injuries. Sarah let out a strangled cry of pain at the movement.

“I-it, arrghhhh, it hu-hurts.” Her tone of voice made Deacon’s heart hurt. 

“I know, I’m so sorry.” He began as he made his way out of the cell and to the window. “We’ll give you some medicine as soon as we get out of here ok?” She made a weak sound of agreement. “I’m gonna hand you to my partner through this window ok? We’re gonna be as gentle as we can but it might hurt. I need you to stay as quiet as you can.” Sarah nodded again, taking a deep breath to prepare herself. Deacon could hear the sound of voices getting closer, raiders coming this way. They didn’t have time to do this carefully. Charmer spoke various encouraging nothing’s as Deacon slowly handed her the girl. As expected the window frame bumped her injuries slightly. She was whimpering but doing very well at her given task all things considered.

Once Charmer safely held her, she looked around again checking for enemies. Finding nothing she began to speed walk towards the junk wall. Deacon could tell she wanted to run but the jostling would most definitely further hurt and damage Sarah’s mangled leg. Deacon quickly slipped through the window himself and was soon right behind his partner, he jogged up ahead of them in order to begin creating an exit. Pulling bits of rotted wood away he could already start to see through to their freedom. Charmer arrived with Sarah in her arms and stood watch as it would likely be more effort to set down and then re-pick up their injured ward. After only about 20 seconds Deacon had managed to create a large enough hole to crawl through. He meant to make it bigger but screams of rage rang out as some of the raider’s presumably discovered the scene of the crime they’d left behind. Orders of “find her” and “spread out” bounce off the walls and buildings, spreading the message in no time flat. They were sitting ducks and the bloodhounds were coming, they needed to go now. Charmer gently set down Sarah and began to crawl through the hole herself. 

“Wh-what’s happening?? Are you leaving me?” the synth panicked. It always hurt to see how scared and distrusting freshly escaped synths were. Deacon supposed it was good as most people in the wealth couldn’t be trusted. Still, he wished there was more he could do to quell their doubts. Charmer popped her head back through the wall and seemingly reading Deacon’s mind, echoed his thoughts exactly.

“Not a chance, you’re safe with us, Sarah.I need you lie down and reach your arms towards me, Dee, I’m gonna pull her through, can you help her leg?”

“Sure thing.” Deacon glanced behind them once more before helping Sarah shift into a position perpendicular to the wall. She grimaced as she reached her arms above her head, opening some partially closed wounds. “We’re almost out Sarah. You’re doing great.” Deacon gingerly lifted her leg, one hand holding her thigh and the other her foot. She cried out softly but did her best to muffle the sound. “Charms,”

“Yup,” she took Sarah’s hands in hers and began to drag her through the opening, Deacon guiding her leg so it didn’t scrape the ground. The yelling of the raiders was way too close. As soon as Sarah was through the wall he looked back. He saw what seemed to be a torch light about to come out from behind one of the most exterior buildings. Dammit. They were out of time. Charmer had picked Sarah up on the other side of the wall. Deacon knew he wouldn’t have enough time to crawl through without being seen. He pulled the largest of the scrap he had torn off the wall and leaned it up, blocking the exit from view. 

“De-”

“Go now, I’ll meet up with you later.”

“But-”

“Now Charmer!” His tone was sharper than he meant it to be but he didn’t have time to linger on it. He turned and started running back towards the camp. Three raiders holding a torch emerged and readied their weapons at the sight of Deacon running towards them, lowering them once he got into view of their torchlight. He recognized one of them from the fire pit earlier.

“Find anything?” he yelled “I was going along the perimeter but I got jack shit.” The raiders lowered their weapons, reassured by his fake anger. 

“No, god fucking dammit” One of the raider’s punched the side of the building next to them. “When I find that little bitch, fuck ransom I’m done.” 

“Don’t thing Red’s gonna be ok with that.” argued another.

“I don’t give a f-”

“Shut the fuck up both of you!” Yelled the raider Deacon recognized, “Hanson where’s your armor, that bitch killed two of ours.” So they don't suspect she had help. They really were stupid.

“I ditched it when I was with my girl and then those damn greenskins attacked. Didn’t have time to put it back on.” Deacon hadn’t seen what attacked them but there weren’t enough laser fires for the attackers to be gunners. That left the possible culprits either being other raiders or muties. Considering how long the fight went on, he settled on the latter. “Those motherfuckers are the reason this all fucking happened.” He shifted suspicion away from himself by arousing anger directed towards the mutants. 

“I swear to god I’m gonna butcher every one of those damn things!” One of the raiders added onto his rage with their own, confirming that his guess had been correct. 

“Alright split up, she couldn’t have gotten out without being seen at the gates.” Grunts of agreement sounded as the four began to run in different directions. 

Deacon made a subtle beeline for the front of the camp. It was probably being heavily guarded but if he could climb onto the guard platforms at the top of the wall without being seen, he might be able to sneak down and get away. He did his best to avoid the blood and guts scattered on the ground everywhere. Nonetheless, he frequently felt the crunch of bones and squelch of human pulp under his boots. He suppressed his gags and tried to keep his eyes on the prize. He had no idea how anyone could live like this

He passed many raiders yelling and running around, checking in tents and behind corners. Sorry guys, she’s long gone. He couldn’t help but feel a little worried for Sarah and Charmer. Charmer was one of the best damn agents they'd ever had for many reasons, but she was far from invincible. The pair wouldn’t be able to move very fast and they would be at a large disadvantage if something or someone attacked while Charmer was carrying their ward. All the more reason to get the hell out of here quick. 

Deacon slowed down as he got closer to the front of the camp. He joined the other raiders in ‘looking’ for the girl. Looking behind builds and moving closer to the ladder of the guard platform as he did. He could see from where he was on the ground there were more raiders up there than he had seen before. There’s no way they’d just let him fence hop down the 20 or so feet, especially since everyone was on high alert right now. If he got up there though, he might be able to pretend to guard. He could blend in, act like he’d been there for a while. Then he could claim he saw someone off in the woods, giving himself an excuse to jump down and ‘chase them’. From there all he would have to do is lose or kill any raider that followed him. Perfect.


	2. Getting Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Deacon escapes, Charmer doctors  
> (TW, vivid gore that starts at "Charmer had done a thorough sweep of their safehouse..." and ends after about 5 paragraphs. I'll put a short synopsis at the end for anyone who wanted to skip over it.)

Unbeknownst to Deacon, the raider from the fire he had run into earlier was suspicious of his story. The fight with the mutants had started only a minute or two after Hanson and Kira had left the fire pit. If what Hanson had said was true, that he got out of his armor while messing around with Kira, they would’ve had to find a place to do it and get down to business very quickly. Plus, he hadn’t seen Hanson at all at the fight, and he knew others would rush to help too. Why the hell wouldn’t he just take two minutes to put his shit on. It wasn’t adding up. The suspicious raider known as Beaker went back to the hostage shack to look for anything that might confirm his suspicions. 

When he arrived, he found the bodies of the two kids, who’d been watching the girl during the fight. They were sent here so they wouldn’t be in harm's way dammit. The bodies both had a single shot to the head. Small caliber gun. Not like the bullets from the kid’s pipe pistols, neither of which were missing. In the cage that was housing the girl, there was the regular dried blood as well as the cut remnants of the rope they had used to tie her. There’s no way she didn’t have help. Even if the guards were kids, how could she’ve cut off her bindings, got a gun, shot both of them before they could get her, and then run away on the leg with Eyeshot broke only a few days ago. 

It couldn’t have been a mutant that took her. They didn’t let any of ‘em get into the camp. Even if one had gotten in and no one noticed a huge green monster walking around, it wouldn’t have killed the guards with two clean shots to the head. And it wouldn’t have bothered getting rid of her bindings. Plus with everyone looking right now there’s no way it’d be able to leave without being seen. No, this had to be an inside job. Beaker looked around some more when his eyes landed on something near the wall. A pile of discarded armor. Hanson’s armor. God dammit! He fucking knew that guy wasn’t right! This is why he’d been complaining to Jones about letting in so many newbies. Beaker turned on his heel and ran in the same direction he had seen Hanson go before. 

***

Deacon climbed the ladder to the guard platform. He was just barely noticed by the other raiders. They were mostly looking down. Presumably looking for Sarah. Deacon walked a bit hesitantly to the edge of the platform. His head face out to the forest but his eyes looked to the ground. His stomach dropped and he began to feel a bit dizzy. It looked a lot higher from up here than it did when he was on the ground. He looked back to the entrance gate, reconsidering leaving this way. No, c’mon Deacon snap out of it. It wasn’t that far to the ground. Not far at all. Only a bit taller than two stories. Oh god. He stepped away from the edge, feeling sick.   
Deep breaths man. Come on, we need to get out of here.  
Deacon tried to hype himself up. He was just about to exclaim his surprise at seeing something in the woods when he heard someone on the ground yell. 

“HEY!” Deacon looked towards the source of the sound. It was the raider from before. He look pissed. And he was pointing straight at Deacon. Shit. While the other guards were trying to figure out what the problem was, Deacon began climbing down the wall’s exterior. He refused to look down, electing to feel for possible holds and ledges he could use. He was climbing at a good pace and had made it about half down the wall. He reached his leg down, still not looking at the ground, and placed his foot on a piece of junk wood that he didn’t realize was rotting till it broke under him and he started to fall. This is why he fucking hated heights. 

He hit the ground hard. Landing on his back, Deacon had the wind completely knocked out of him. His head, which was turned to the side, hit a small rock. That hurt pretty bad. Luckily the stupid goggles broke, taking most of the blow. He gasped and struggled for air that seemed to not want to enter his lungs. His ears were ringing, and he just barely heard yelling from up above. 

“Ajsh ...sjjfb … Traitor!.... get...aggghdb”

Without his conscious mind really noticing, he began to get up. He was still gasping for air and the world was spinning but he ran anyways. He faintly heard gunshots, noticed bits of dirt exploding upwards near his feet. He cried out and tripped a bit when he felt a bullet lodge itself in his shoulder but he kept running until finally he was behind the tree line of the forest. He switched up his pathing in case they followed him. He kept running in an irregular pattern for about a minute longer, still dizzy and disoriented. He finally stopped running when he tripped over a dead branch throwing his arms in front of him to catch himself. He yelped as pain shot through his wounded arm. He sat there for a minute, listening for any sign he was being followed, any distant yelling or dead leaves crunching under raider’s boots. Nothing. He slowly lifted himself from the forest floor, taking care to put most of his weight on his left arm. His entire right side was covered in blood. It trickled down his sides to eventually be soaked up by the already pretty mucked up cargo pants. A deep gash on his forehead above his eye was pouring blood. Every 10 seconds or so he had to keep wiping blood out of his now bare eyes. This hadn’t really gone as planned, but he was alive. 

He looked to the sky, from where the moon and constellations were now compared to where he last saw them from the camp, he determined he was facing south east. He was still really fuzzy from the rapid blood loss and definite concussion, but if he kept walking this way he’d probably make it to the ruins of Weston proper where Charmer and himself had set up a temporary safe house prior to the mission. Whether or not he bled out before then was uncertain. 

After half walking, half jogging for about 4 minutes. He had made it out of the forest and into the remnants of the town. He kept walking for another minute. He knew he should keep going. But he was almost there. And he was so so tired and so so cold. He just needed to sit down. Just for a second, then he would keep going. Finishing this thought he walked to a nearby building. Sitting, or rather collapsing, against the brick wall. So tired, so cold. He just needed to rest his eyes for a minute, just a minute and then he’d keep going.

***

Charmer had done a thorough sweep of their safehouse before she began to tend to Sarah’s wounds. Setting the broken bone in her leg right was gonna be pretty horrific for the both of them and she didn’t need any other issues on top of it. She hadn’t ever set a broken bone before and was kind of terrified that she would fuck it up. Sarah didn’t seem as worried. All she was thinking about was taking the medicine that would dull what was probably the worst pain she’s felt in her life thus far. Charmer had used almost all of one vial of Med-X on her leg. When probed on her pain level she slurred,

“I’s only a lil bit” Which would have to be good enough.

She had Sarah bite down on a towel same as she’d had Deacon do so many times. The fucker absolutely refused to take Med-X and got sick at the sight of his own blood so he was a difficult patient. Thinking back to the lovely decorations of the raider camp, she was actually surprised he fared so well. Charmer decided she’d do what she’d seen in those action films where you tell the person you’d do whatever painful doctor thing on three, and then do it on two instead. She never really understood why they did that but it was in most media so surely it was important. In all of the films, setting a bone just looked like kind of shoving it back into place. After it was mostly in place, the stimpak should do most of the work for her. Was it concerning that her only knowledge of how to do this was from movies? Yes, but it would have to do.

“Ok, Sarah, this is gonna hurt a lot but I need you to stay as still as you can ok? Just keep biting that towel.” Sarah provided a limp thumbs up and a muffled “mmhm” in agreement. Good, it seemed the medicine was dulling things pretty well. “Ok, let’s do this,” Charmer said a short prayer to a god she didn’t believe in and placed her hand on where the synth’s bone was protruding. Thankfully the skin wasn’t broken but the bone was very much making a normally straight shin look like the obtuse angle of a triangle. What the injury lacked in skin-breakage, it made up for in very swollen almost black bruises covering the area around the injury. It looked pretty painful… maybe she should wait a bit longer for the Med-X?

No. Come on Charmer, enough stalling.  
“One,” She whispered, taking a deep breath, “Two!” She pushed the bone back into place with a vicious crack. Sarah screamed into the rag in her mouth. Charmer knew it was gonna hurt her but that scream plus the crunching of her bone being shoved back into a relatively straight line was pretty gut wrenching. 

Sarah instinctively pulled her leg up closer to her. Charmer, gently moving Sarah’s hands out of the way, quickly used the rest of the Med-X vial as well as two stimpaks on the girl. The continued cracking of the stimpaks fixing her leg was unfortunately loud, Sarah’s screams from behind the towel though, were louder. Oh god she really hoped she did it right. Charmer didn’t think she could do that again. The agent, not being able to do much to make it better, moved up to Sarah’s side and offered her hand. Sarah Squeezed it like she was trying to crush it. Her screams turned into crys which turned into whimpers as the stimpaks finished their job. The girl finally let go of Charmer’s hand. 

“Good Job hon, you did great.” She smiled but Sarah wasn’t really paying attention. Charmer took the towel from her mouth and began to explain what she was going to do next but quickly realized her ward was practically asleep. From the meds or the pain, she didn’t know. Hopefully when she woke up she wouldn’t remember just how awful this was. For now, Charmer decided to just start cleaning and bandaging her wounds. 10 minutes of alcohol, medical tape, and bandages later, the synth, who was now passed out on pain meds, looked good as new. Kind of. A bit. Better than before Charmer would say.

Charmer wanted to ignore the worried voice in the back of her head. It had been nagging at her since they got to the house. She decided to focus on changing the girl into better, real clothes. Once that was done though, there was nothing to distract her from the ugly feeling tugging at the edge of her mind. It had taken the two about 15 minutes to get to the safehouse due to going slow and taking care to stay out of the open. So tacking on the time of taking care of Sarah, it had been a bit over 30 minutes since Charmer had left Deacon at the raider camp. She really really hadn’t wanted to but he did that voice he does when he’s serious or mad, so she had. Plus, she knew she had to look out for the synth first. It’s been too long now. He knew where to meet them, but he wasn’t here yet. Honestly at the pace her and Sarah had traveled at, she half expected Deacon to get there before them. Charmer couldn’t shake off her rising panic. Something was wrong. 

Their safehouse was, well, safe. The ghost town it was in had a ton of buildings. The chance of someone finding this one, taking or hurting Sarah while she was gone, very minimal. The chance of her best friend being held captive, tortured, horribly injured or d-. The chances of him being in trouble were high. So she covered Sarah with a blanket, grabbed the Deliverer, and headed out. She jogged the empty streets of what used to be Weston, gradually making her way back towards the raider camp. Thoughts of all the horrible things that could’ve happened to Deacon ran through her head no matter how hard she tried to stamp them out.

She slowed a bit as she passed a broken playground. The metal of the structures were covered in rust. A lot of the thinner bits of metal were warped from heat, presumably destroyed by the initial blast.One of the still intact swings was swaying, creaking slightly in the breeze as if it still remembered what it’s old purpose had been. Little bones littered the centuries old turf. A baby carriage sat at the precipice, a skeleton, held mostly together by her clothes huddled over it protectively. She blinked the tears out of her eyes and kept walking. She couldn’t get stuck on this right now. She had to find Deacon.  
Suck it up, this is just how things are now. 

She was approaching the edge of the town now, jogging quicker than before as her worry grew. She turned a corner and froze. About ten yards ahead of her was a figure slumped against the brick wall of a building. As she ran towards it she was able to make out the shaved head and stupid raider garb Deacon had put on earlier that day. He was covered in blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Synopsis of the gore stuff: Charmer had gotten Sarah back to the safehouse and had to set her broken leg straight. She had never done this before and was quite worried. She ended up doing the procedure successfully though it was very painful for Sarah.
> 
> Hope u guys like this so far :)


	3. Surgery two electric boogaloo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charmer tries to pull her friend back from the brink of death. Minor gore in this one but not a lot.

As she ran towards it she was able to make out the shaved head and stupid raider garb Deacon had put on earlier that day. He was covered in blood. She was about to hyperventilate. She fell to the ground next to him, he was so pale and his entire right side was covered in partially dried blood. She took his head in her hands and patted the sides of his face.

“Deacon, hey, Deeks,” nothing, “DEACON!” She yelled, panicked. He lifted his head slightly at that and mumbled something incoherent. “Ahhhhhh ok ok ok you’re fine, you’re just fine. Alright let’s go buddy, upsy daisy” Charmer looped her arms under his knees and around his torso, adrenaline helping her lift him. His head lolled back and he groaned at the movement. He was a lot heavier than Sarah. “I know Dee, I know. Just a little longer.” she reassured her practically unconscious friend

She ran as fast as she could, which while carrying the 180 something pound man was about a light jog, back to the house. Her legs burned especially as she climbed up the steps to the porch. She leaned back against the small banister running along the perimeter of the small porch so she could kick the door open without falling or dropping him. It took a few tries but eventually the centuries old metal lock snapped. Once in the main room she set him down on the cot next to the still passed out Sarah who was, as she had guessed, undisturbed while Charmer was gone. Deacon whined when she rolled him over to look at his back where the most blood was coming from. He had bruises covering all of his upper back. It hurt just looking at him. She quickly grabbed the one blood pack she had packed. After double checking the type to make sure it’s compatible she attached the tubing and needle which she would connect to the easiest and most out of the way vein. The back of his left leg should be fine. Grabbing a scalpel she quickly and carefully cut a hole in his pants for the tubing. She was getting real tired of playing high stress doctor.

Once he was receiving blood she turned her attention to what looked to be a gunshot wound on his shoulder. There wasn’t an exit wound so she’d have to take the bullet out. She grabbed some tweezers and clicked on her Pip-Boy’s flashlight to get a better look at the damage. He whined as she pushed the tweezers in his injury, trying to separate the flesh to find the bullet.

“Please be full metal jacket please be full metal jacket please be-” Her heart dropped. Fucking hollowpoint. Even better, he was starting to wake up, and he was gonna refuse Med-X. He moved to try to push himself off the ground but she held him down with a hand on his back. “Don’t move, Deacon.

“Charmer?” he groaned, still trying to get up. Charmer held her hand firmly on his back.

“Deacon, DON’T. MOVE.” She tried her best to sound stern despite panicking internally.

“Why?” He turned his head as far as he could to look at her. It was only then she realized he wasn’t wearing anything to cover his eyes. She couldn’t help but stare for a moment. They were blue. Light blue but so bright, so beautiful. “Oh... I got shot right?” His voice sounded like what it usually did when he first woke up. That sound always her butterflies but right now she swatted them because It was very much not the time to be enraptured with his eyes or his voice. 

“Yeah bud, you did.” She turned back to her medkit next to her, rooting around for some Med-X. 

“Mmm,” he hummed gravelly. When this was over she was gonna punch herself in the face for how that noise made her heart skip. Seriously, not the damn time. She finally found the vial she was looking for, trying unsuccessfully to hide it from his view as she determined how much was in it. “No.”

“Yes.” Charmer removed the needle cap.

“No,” Deacon began to lift himself with his left arm, Charmer quickly pushed him back down.

“Oof- Really Charms? You’re gonna shove a guy with a bullet wound?” She felt bad pushing on his bruises but he was gonna hurt himself more if he got up. He was still pretty weak physically but he was awoken pretty effectively by the concern of Charmer unconsensually shoving drugs into him. “I don’t need that, seriously I’m feeling better already.”

“Deacon-”

“Really I am!”

“Deacon you have a hollow point bullet lodged in your shoulder and I have to fucking dig it out.” he grimiced more jokingly than upset.

“Yikes. I mean, we could just leave it. As long as I don’t get an MRI-” Charmer sighed and placed her hand closer to the wound to keep him steady while she moved the needle towards him. Deacon shot his arm out to grab her leg, yelping at the pain the action undoubtedly caused. Charmer paused looking down at him, her annoyed expression quickly turned soft when she saw his face. 

“Please,” his voice was quiet, serious, pleading. She felt like she was invading his privacy, looking into his eyes. Seeing all the emotion held in them. Guess that’s why he wore those glasses. He kept every hidden feeling, every tell, every fear locked away behind a shield of glass. He seemed to remember he didn’t have his glasses then because he looked away quickly. Staring at a spot on the ground in front of him.

“Why?” Her words were quiet too. Quieter than she meant them to be. He didn’t respond or look back at her. He just stayed focused on that spot. His hand gently gripping her calf was the only sign he was still focused on her at all. Looks like she’d stumbled onto yet another topic he wasn’t going to talk about. She looked away, relieving him from her eye contact. Charmer sighed, lightly tapping her fingers on his back. After a few seconds she replaced the cap and set down the drug. He removed his hand and slowly exhaled as he again moved his injured arm. This time he folded both of his arms together and turned to rest his forehead on them.

“Whenever you’re ready, Boss.” His voice was back to normal, like nothing happened. She grabbed a fresh towel from the kit and threw it at his head. 

“Take the damn gag dumbass.”

“Geez Charms! At least buy me dinner first.” She picked up the tweezers. Looks like the bleeding had stopped for the most part which would make things easier. 

“You’re gonna be buying me dinner for the next week.” Charmer prodded around the wound with her fingers, looking for a good way to go about this.

“Aww are you asking me out? I knew you liked ah-” He sucked in a breath as she began to poke the hole with tweezers, trying to get to move the damaged tissue to find the bullet again. Luckily, it didn’t look too deep but she couldn’t imagine her digging hard into the wound with cold metal felt very good. Deacon was groaning quietly, blocking most of the pained noise with his arms. She pushed the tweezers deeper. “Hmmmmggggghh…” the muscles on his arms and shoulders flexed as dug his fingers into his biceps.

“Dee you gotta relax, this is gonna hurt more if you tense up.”

“Got it,” he moaned breathlessly. Now she was gonna have to punch herself twice. He inhaled deeply, trying to untense his muscles as he exhaled. 

She tried to ignore his groans as she dug further. She found the bullet again and carefully grabbed it with her tweezers.

“This is gonna hurt.”

“I kno-aaaaahhnnnggghhhmmmm” he pressed his lips together to attempt to silence the noise, as she carefully pulled the offending bit of metal out of him. She knew it was a moan of pain but it sure didn’t sound like it. The soft whimper he let out when she finally removed it went straight to her core.  
Welp, I’m going to hell.

Deacon’s back rose and fell with the quick, breaths he was taking. His muscles tensed and relaxed with every breath. She couldn’t stop watching how his skin moved over his ribs and shoulder blades.

“Good job, buddy.” Charmer tried to keep her voice normal. Even covered in blood he’s- oh blood, yeah he’s bleeding a lot now. She wished she could just stick him with a stimpak and be done with it but she needed to make sure there was no shrapnel left. She grabbed the last towel in their kit and dabbed at the wound consistently at the same time holding it open with the tweezers. Everything seemed good except for one small piece of metal still embedded in his skin. “One more, okay?”

“Mmmhm” He was biting something and given he had not grabbed the cloth yet, she assumed it was his arm. She spoke without taking her attention from trying to get the last piece of metal.

“Dee, stop biting you’re gonna hurt yourself.” Her voice trailed off quieter as she focused.

“Y-you’re huruuggnnhhhhfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck...” he hissed as she pulled the last bit of shrapnel out. It was oddly shaped so it seemed to be tearing a good bit of skin. She felt pretty bad but she had offered the Med-X. “Chaaaarhmmm…” he moaned, slightly arching his back.

“You’re distracting me.” she all but whispered.

“I-ahhhhhhhh.” almost got it...

“Done!” She set down the bloody tweezers and grabbed a stimpak from the top of the medkit. The healing noise of the stim depressurizing was the best sound in the world. “All done.” He sighed heavily as the stimpak did it’s work. His muscle tissue and skin rebinding itself together probably would’ve hurt too but it was far preferable to the prior agony. 

“That was nothing,” he breathed, “Give me a challenge next time.” 

“Ya-huh.” She checked the blood bag, it was almost empty. It was the only one they had but he seemed to be doing pretty well so she’d let him finish that and then get some food in him. The stimpak had reduced the bullet wound to a shallow gouge in his skin and his bruising was all but gone. She poured some alcohol on it and grabbed the towel he hadn’t used to clean up the surrounding area before she bandaged it.

“Hmmhmhmhmhmm oh boy do I love post surgery sanitization!” Deacon strained “Really that whole shebang was fun, we should do it more often-” For a fourth time that evening Deacon tried to get up prematurely. For a fourth time Charmer pushed him back down. “Oof- ok so do you just have a thing for pinning me down or?” 

“Yeah, I like digging around in your injuries just to hear the noises you make too. It’s the only thing that can get me going these days.” 

“Gotcha, then by all means, please continue. My love language is words of affirmation though so if you could throw a couple of those in there...”

“Well then, my lovely and sweetest boy Deacon, you gotta wait for this thing,” she rapped on the ground next to the blood bag, “To drain up before you can move.” She turned to once again rifled around in the medkit. This time looking for some purified water.

“You’re too good to me Dr.Charms. Truly you do too much.”

“Tell me about it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the cut offs are kinda weird. I'm writing this as one thing not in chapters so that's why.  
> Please give me validation I crave that mineral


End file.
